On January 9, 2024, Hesai Technology officially launched the 512-line ultra-high-resolution ultra-long-range LiDAR AT512 at CES 2024. As the “pinnacle of comprehensive performance” of Hesai’s AT series, AT512 demonstrates a breakthrough in LiDAR technology and is mainly aimed at high-end smart driving production models with extremely high requirements for performance, reliability, and safety.
It is worth mentioning that Hesai Technology is a global leading LiDAR research and manufacturing company. Its products are widely used in passenger cars and commercial vehicles that support advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous driving vehicles, as well as unmanned delivery vehicles, AGVs, and other types of intelligent robot applications. Hesai integrates LiDAR manufacturing processes into the research and development design process, ensuring high performance, reliability, and low cost while promoting rapid product iteration. Hesai has outstanding R&D capabilities and deep technical accumulation in the core areas of LiDAR, including optics, mechanics, electronics, and software.
The LiDAR AT512 released this time is equipped with Hesai’s latest fourth-generation self-developed chip. By introducing 3D stacking and optical noise suppression technologies, it achieves a comprehensive performance upgrade in terms of optical receiving and transmitting efficiency and vertical integration capabilities, while maintaining the same volume.
As one of the essential sensors for high-level intelligent driving, LiDAR has gradually become the standard for intelligent vehicles with its advantages of anti-interference, true three-dimensionality, and high reliability. LiDAR with a longer measurement distance means that intelligent vehicles can discover potential hazards at a farther distance, providing more reaction time for system decision-making, and thus greatly improving driving safety and comfort.
According to the official statement, AT512 can achieve a standard measurement distance of 300 meters (at 10% reflectance), which is 50% higher than AT128. The maximum measurement distance reaches 400 meters, which is twice that of the same type of long-range LiDAR on the market. Whether it is a vehicle or a pedestrian at 400 meters can be captured sharply, which greatly enhances the vehicle’s perception of the surrounding environment. It allows the vehicle to discover targets at least one time earlier, which increases the reaction time of the system’s safety decision-making by more than 40%, and maximizes the safety of intelligent driving.
Hesai’s first three self-developed LiDAR chips have all been successfully mass-produced and delivered on a large scale. Based on the successful experience of multiple self-developed chips, Hesai’s latest fourth-generation self-developed chip has further improved its integration. It can achieve a maximum processing point number of more than 100 million per second, which is a super high performance.
Thanks to the significantly improved integration of Hesai’s fourth-generation chip, AT512 provides car-level super-clear three-dimensional perception with a super-high point frequency of about 12.3 million per second. It has a global uniform angular resolution of 0.05° x 0.05°, and the point cloud density is 8 times that of AT128, and it also reaches more than 10 times that of other similar long-range products on the market. It can be said that AT512 is the pinnacle of comprehensive performance of ADAS long-range LiDAR in the current market, regardless of measurement distance or resolution.
Currently, the AT series has been assigned to more than 50 pre-production mass production projects for 15 leading OEMs and Tier-1 customers, including SAIC and FAW. Models such as Xiaomi SU7, Lixiang L series, IM LS7/LS6, RISING AUTO F7, and Leapmotor C10 are equipped with LiDAR from Hesai.
Since its establishment, Hesai LiDAR has accumulated over 300,000 units in total deliveries, making it the first automotive LiDAR company in the world to achieve this milestone. In December last year, it achieved a single-month delivery of over 50,000 units, again setting a new industry single-month delivery record.
